Turbine



Feb. 26 1924.

J. C. BRITCHER TURBINE Filed May 1, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet III Feb 26 1924.

I J. C. BRITCHER TURBINE Fild Ma 1, 1923' 2 Shanta-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

-r OFFICE.

JOHNC. BRITCHER, F YORK, FENNSYLVANIA.

' TURBINE.

Appliea tionv filed May 1,

To a ZZj it may eencern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN G. Bnrronnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania,: have} invented certain new and useful Improvements in Turbines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hydraulic turbines and has for its object the provision of simple and efficient means for controlling the entrance of the. water to the rotor. The I invention seeks to provide means whereby the volume of water flowing to the rotor may be very accurately controlled, and also to provide means whereby the flow of water to the rotor may be entirely cut-01f quickly in, the event of accident, and a further object of the invention is to; provide novel means for operating the wicket gates. These statedobjects, and other objects which will incidentally appeal: in the course of the following description, are attained in such a. mechanism as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention resides 2 in certain novel featureswhich will be particularly pointed. out in the claims, follow ing the description. In he m ing 1 Figure 1 is a side elevation ofone embodiment of myfinvention, the outer casing or housing being shown in section; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on a larger ale; I I

Fig. 3 is a detailuvertical section on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 1; is a detail view showing one of the wicket gates and the operating arm therefor in perspective and disassembled.

'The outer casing 1 may be of any desired form and dimensions and supported in any convenient or preferred manner, being pro vided at a proper point with an. inlet 2 if through which the. water is admitted, and

this .inlet is, in actual practice, equipped with a cut-off valve in the usual manner. In the drawings, the turbine is shown disposed about a vertical axis but it may, of course, be set in other positions and will operate efiiciently. The turbine comprises an upper housing 3 having a. head 41 secured thereon and a lower housing 51 extending through the bottom of the casingl and communicat- 1923. s m No. 35,950.

and the said gates extend in an annular series around the entire turbine. The power shaft 11 extends through the head 4 of the upper housing 3 and any preferred form of boxing12 is provided upon the said head for the shaft, as will be readily understood, a similar packing box or gland 13 being provided on the cover 14 of the main CaSlDg 1, as shown. The lower end of the power shaft 11 maybe supported in any convenient manner in the lower housing 5 at any preferred point of the same, and blades or pockets 15 are secured to the power shaft so as to be acted upon directly by the water flowing through the space between the rings 8 and 9 in the usual manner. Fitted slidably through the upper ring 9 and the upper housing 3 is a .cylinder gate 16 which has its lower edge arranged to rest upon the lower ring 8, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, whereby to entirely cut off the flow of water to the rotor blades or pockets, as will be readily understood. The outer circumferential surface of the cylinder gate bears against and rides over the inner circumference of thering 9 so as to be guided thereby, and oneor more rods 17 are fixed to and rise from the upper edge of the said gate to slide through the head 4: so that by raising and lowering the said rods the gate may be opened or closed. To effect movement of the said rods 17 a lever 18 is fulcrumed upon a suitable post 19 erected upon the head at and having pin and shot engagement withv the upper ends of the rods 17, as shown at 20. A lifting bar or handle member 21 is pivoted to the opposite end of the lever 18 and rises through the cover 1 1 of the casing 1, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the lever may be actuated from any point within the building within which the turbine is located. A

' body, the upper and lower ends of which are substantially triangular, the apex of the triangle or the point 23 of the gate being disposed at the inner end thereof. v T he gates are piv'otally mounted between the rings 8 and 9, upon pivot bolts 2 1 extending through the respective gates betweenthe ends there of and serving to maintain the rings 8. and 9 in spaced relatiomas will be readily understood upon referenceto 3. It will be noted that the bolts 24: are threaded into the upper ring 9, as at 25, and are provided near their lower ends with shoulders 45 abutting the ring 8 so that the bolts constitute supportsfor the rings as well as spacers to maintain the set relation of the same. The gates, 10 are constructed. in their lower portions with longitudinally extending sockets 26 which open through the outer wider ends of the gates and, slidably receive operating arms 27 which are pivotally mounted at their-outer endsupon a shifting ring 28, A convenient.mounting for the operating arms 27 is a knuckle consisting of-a vertical sleeve: 29 and a lateral-sleeve 30 projecting from the sleeve 29 betwe-en theends of the same. The end of; the arm 27- secured in the sleeve-8O and a pivot screw 31 is insertedthrough the sleeve 29 into the shifting ring 28 whereby to pivotally attach the knuckle to the ring, as willloe readily un' derstood. The shifting ring 28 is fitted to the outer circumference of the ring 8 by a tongue and groove structure, shown at .32; so that the shifting ring will be supported by the ring 8 and will extend entirely around the circumference thereof but may slide relative thereto. The shifting ring is prefer ably constructed of two similar members provided at their ends with mating dependinglugs 33 through which securing-bolts 84 i are inserted to securethe shifting ring in place about the lower ring 8. At convenient points of the ring 28, I pivot thereto links 35 which extend outwardly therefrom and have their outer ends pivoted to a disk or collar 36 secured to a. vertical adjusting shaft or rod 37 which extends through the cover 14 of the casing 1 and is equipped with a handle 38 of any preferred form; A hearing 39 may be provided for the said rodor shaft 37 carried by a bracket 40 pro ectmg from the upper housing 3, as shown in Fig. 1. v

In Fig. 2'of-the' drawings, 'the cylinder gate 16 is shown in a partly'elosed position while the wicket gates 10 are shown in fully opened position. The flow of Water turn the gates about their respective pivots 24 and, consequently, the. inner tapered ends of the gates will be swung outwardly so that eventually they will come into contact with the inner face of the respectively adjacent gate thereby cutting off the flow ofwater. It will thus be seen that by providing the cylinder gate and arplurality of pivotally mounted wicket gates which are adapted to swing together in overlapping relation, I

am enabled to very accurately regulatethe volume of water admittedto the rotor of the turbine so that a: conservation of the water may be effected while-'all the power needed at any one time may beobtained through the 7 rotation of the power shaft 1 1.-.Should one of the wicket gates be broken, it would, of

c0urse,.be impossible to entirely cut-off the flow of water by, merely'shifting the wicket gates and in this emergency the cylinder gate is lowered into fully closed position so that the flow of water is cut-off and any.

water which may then enter the main casing 1 will be inert and will not -impart'any movement to the rotor. Of course, the flow through the inlet 2 will be cut-off as quickly as possible so that access to the broken wicket gate may be had' and the necessary repairs made. It may sometimes be desirable to set the wicket, gates in fully opened position and adjust-thecylinder gate into i a partly closedpos'ition and, undersome circumstances, it may be advantageousto maintainthe cylinder gatein fully opened position and regulate the flow of water solely by the adjustment of the wicket gates but by providing both the cylinder gate and a plurality of wicket gates, I am enabled to effect a greater and closer adjustment and regulation of the turbine than would be 7505- sible with either form of gate alone. The V I slidably mounted operating arms which control the. wicket gates operate directly and quickly so as to shift the position of said gates when needed and respond readily to any movement of the shifting ring. The construction andarrangement of the parts are simple and open so that all the parts are accessible when repairs are needed, but,'

due to the simplicityof the construction, the

mechanism is not apt to get out of order and will operate eiiiciently fora long period without any attention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a turbine, the combination of a rotor, a housing therefor including upper and 5 lower rings spaced apart and defining an opening to admit fluid to the rotor, a plurality of Wicket gates pivotally mounted between the said rings and provided with longitudinal sockets opening through their outer ends, a shifting ring encircling the series of gates, and a plurality of arms slidably engaged in the sockets in the respective gates and having their outer ends pivotally connected with the shifting ring.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

J OHN C. BRITCHER. [1 si] 

